You know when your kids come home from school on a hot summer day and immediately start throwing tantrums about what’s for lunch and that they don’t want to have rice and the same things every day? Yeah, that can be stressful. But you can try these easy and refreshing recipes that will keep your children energised through the day and they will not fuss about eating them either.
- Yogurt based recipes:
Yogurt is the easiest and the most refreshing way to go this summer. Make a healthy vegetable salad with fruits or vegetables and add yogurt as a dressing. This tastes great with added seasonings and is also a very light component that will also help your children digest. You can also make wraps and use thick yogurt or sour curd instead of mayonnaise. This is a versatile ingredient that you can use in almost anything.
- Chicken and Fruit salad Wraps:
This is a cold salad alternative that the children won’t have a problem eating because it will be disguised as a chicken wrap. Make a fruit salad with apples, pineapples, grapes, bananas and such. Now put a generous amount of chicken strips in the salad and mix them altogether with sour yogurt, a bit of sugar and a pinch of black pepper. Now wrap this in a chapatti and serve in halves.
- Chocolate-dipped Apples:
This is more of a side dish but is healthy nonetheless and pretty simple to make. Cut your apples the usual way you would and put a skewer or an ice-cream stick through it. Now dip them in melted chocolate if you already have that at home, or you can use Nocilla/Nutella or even peanut butter. Freeze it for some time and you have a great summertime lunch side-dish and/or snack.
- Burgers:
You can either buy some patties from the local stores or make some on your own and store them. Just put a grilled/fried patty between bun slices, add a bit of mayonnaise, and put some carrots, tomatoes, cucumber slices and a lettuce. Now make a sunny-side-up egg and put it on the burger patty. This burger will fill your kid’s tummy and the protein from the meat and eggs will fulfil their protein requirement too.
- Easy-cooked Potato Casserole:
Casseroles are easy to make for the most part, but sometimes they can get complicated due to a lot of ingredients. But this is an easy version which includes just one vegetable and ingredients which are already in your kitchen and you can cook on your stove too. Take a nice pot and stack up boiled potato slices. Sprinkle a bit of salt, pepper, paprika or any other spices of your choice. When the stack is of a considerable height, layer a few cheese slices on top. Put it in the on the stove and cook until the cheese melts. Easy-peasy!
- Fish and Chips:
Who doesn’t like fish and chips with a nice sauce? Coat your fish fillets (that you can get in super- shops like Agora, Unimart, etc; or any cuts of your choice) with a good quality bread crumb or toast-biscuit crumb that you can make at home. This will give your fish a nice fried texture which your kids will love. Make some potato chips and serve it with a generous amount of vegetables (optional). Put some garlic sauce on the side. Tasty, easy, nutritious lunch that is also light and refreshing for hot summer afternoons.
- Bread Rolls with Strawberry:
This is an easy and healthy recipe that you can make in literally minutes. You can either brown your bread slices in a little butter or leave them as it is. Spread some Nocilla or Nutella over your bread slices and put diced strawberry pieces and roll it. You can secure them with a toothpick or choose not to if your children are very young. This dish is sure to be a hit with your children.
- Tuna-salad Sandwich:
Make a light salad with raw or half boiled vegetables of your choice like carrots, shallots, baby corns and boiled potatoes and add tuna to it. Spread it over brown bread or you can use normal bread as well. A very healthy and tasty recipe that can be substituted for your children’s protein needs.